Gareth Bale’s first Premier League hat-trick pushed Paul Lambert towards an unwanted record as a second-half goal glut deepened the gloom at Villa Park.

The Wales winger grabbed the match ball - and stuck it on his Christmas tree - following his 23-minute salvo that built on Jermain Defoe’s opener to leave Villa’s boss with a massive festive hangover.

Just three days after the former European champions suffered the heaviest defeat in their history in shipping eight against last season’s Champions League winners, they served up another horror show against Tottenham in front of a sizeable holiday crowd.

And with Bale at the heart of the
torment, it meant the 12 goals fired past Brad Guzan equalled the most ever conceded in back-to-back
matches in the Premier League. They share the dubious distinction with
Ipswich, Manchester City, West Ham and Wigan.

Make no mistake, this result was no
fluke. The first-half corner count was 15-1 in the visitors’ favour and
Villa did not enjoy a shot on Hugo Lloris’s goal until Marc Albrighton’s
effort three minutes from time.

It is difficult to judge just how
good Spurs were given they huffed and puffed against Stoke City last
time out. However, they at least looked like they knew what they were
doing, which was more than could be said for the hosts.

And once Defoe had broken the
deadlock and Villa were forced to chase the game, Bale exploited huge
gaps to take his season’s tally to nine in the league.

‘He’s up there with the best,’ said
manager Andre Villas-Boas following Spurs’ sixth victory in eight games.
‘And I think he is improving every game.

‘His left foot is wonderful and the
power and direction he applies is wonderful too. It was an excellent
performance from him and obviously he gets the goals and reward. But it
was a very good team performance from start to finish.’

Jermain Defoe makes the breakthrough

Happy days: Defoe celebrates his strike

Gareth Bale on Twitter

Before posting a picture of the match ball on top of his Christmas tree, Bale tweeted: 'Amazing feeling to get my first league hat trick today but more importantly a great team performance to get us up to 4th #matchball'

Asked about the possibility of Bale
leaving in January, his manager said: ‘There’s no release clause in his
contract. He has a market value that is unobtainable to most clubs.’

Villa, who used Christian Benteke as a
lone striker behind a five-man defence and four-man midfield, were
chasing shadows for long spells in the opening period.

Guzan made a superb fingertip stop to
deny Bale from 25 yards in what was the stand-out moment — apart from
the corner won by Villa in the last knockings of the half, greeted by
cheers from the home supporters.

Lambert’s side began the second half
brightly but Spurs found a way through. Defoe, surrounded by claret
shirts inside the area, passed backwards to Bale, who did likewise to
Kyle Naughton.

The left back’s first-time ball inside Matthew Lowton was controlled by Defoe, who finished with the outside of his right foot.

Four minutes later, it was two as
Villa shot themselves in the foot again. Spurs just managed to clear
Benteke’s cross from the right but Ciaran Clark’s pass was cut out by
Aaron Lennon and his pass inside was knocked into Bale’s path by Joe
Bennett. Bale ran forward with Chris Herd in his wake, rounding Guzan
and slotting home.

The whole stadium knew that was game
over. But not as far as Bale was concerned. Twelve minutes later, he
took a short ball from Lennon in his stride, taking one touch and
firing past Guzan.

Triple treat: Bale completes his hat-trick

Clinical: Bale scores his second goal

Hat-trick hero: Bale holds the match ball

Kyle Walker then fed substitute Gylfi
Sigurdsson, who pulled the ball back for Spurs’ man of the moment to
claim his second hat-trick for the club. Who could forget his first? It
came in the San Siro against Inter Milan.

While those late goals lifted
Villas-Boas’s side to fourth, Villa now face Wigan on Saturday. If
Wigan win, they will move level on points with Lambert’s side. ‘We rode
our luck massively in the first half,’ admitted Lambert. ‘I thought
there was a foul on Fabian Delph in their first goal.

‘We had a good chance to make it 1-1
but then they go up the park and score again. That’s what can happen
when you are playing those kind of players.’

Asked whether there were problems
defensively, Lambert added: ‘It’s not just the defence. It’s everywhere.
We’re in it together, collectively you have to stop it.’

Villa’s fans - incredibly - ended the
game singing Lambert’s name. They have a Capital One Cup semi-final to
look forward to, after all.

But on this evidence, you wouldn’t
put it past Bradford to reach Wembley. Now that really would shake the
foundations at Villa Park.